By Karen Tessmer, Guest Essayist

October 31, 2013

After a year of discussion and debate, the Division III Recruiting Working Group has made steady progress toward the goal of identifying potential changes in the divisions recruiting legislation.

With the continued support of membership to further explore these changes, and the addition of survey results and research findings, the Division III Recruiting Working Group has formulated nine recruiting concepts to consider (See below).

While we fine-tune the concepts for presentation at the 2014 NCAA Convention, we are constantly challenged to ask ourselves how our group's work can best served the entire Division III membership.

Are we looking for rules to be more permissive, restrictive or a combination of both? What would work best for all sports? Or are blanket changes unrealistic and we need to be sport specific? Do these nine recruiting concepts have any potential to affect youth sports' influence or intercollegiate athletics, positively or negatively?

Can we reach a common ground that embraces the NCAA Division III philosophy and mission, while also addressing recruiting needs, enrollment strategies, work-life imbalances, the student-athlete experience and fiscal accountability?

While these questions may be hard to answer definitively, they will hopefully encourage further discussion, dialogue and debate among all constituents of the membership as we draw nearer to presenting these concepts at the Convention. We will use fall surveys to gather feedback on the strengths, weaknesses, practicality and adaptability of these nine concepts.

Each institution's perspective will be important to hear and will help us determine which, if any, concepts should be developed and submitted at the 2015 NCAA Convention. Ultimately, change is not always easy or easily embraced.

But we are working hard as a committee to represent every stakeholder in Division III - coaches, athletics administrators, college executives and current and prospective student-athletes, among others - and to present concepts and ideas that might impact Division III recruiting in a positive way for years to come.

Like any good team, we are up for the challenge.

This opinion column appears on Page 7 of NCAA Champion Magazine (Fall - 2013). Tessmer serves as the Co-Chair of the Division III Recruiting Working Group, formed to examine recruiting rules, particularly with regards to work-life imbalance among coaches and the evolving youth sport culture.

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